Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1970 06:41:45 +0000 Subject: alterations in cruise schedule From: "Ross, Robin" Hello from the LMG, First the gorgeous weather keep us moving briskly along through the schedule, and then the rotten weather kept us guessing about how much we would get finished of the 500.* line! Although I have assumed the field team leaders have kept you all posted about some of the minor alterations, I thought I would let you know in advance of the changes that must occur toward the end of the cruise. Of course more weather could change all our plans, but this is a starting point. We rearranged the order of the activities in the Jan 11 - 18 time frame in two parts. First we moved one high density foraging grid to before Process Station 2 and the sediment trap retrieval and deployment to give a bit more time for prepping that routine. Then the weather drove us in from station 500.180 in the late afternoon of 11 Jan, and we ended up spending 12 Jan doing the inside north stations: 550.000 (about), 550.020 in the Grandidier, and 585.010 in the Lemaire. Strangely enough the surface water at 550.000 was very warm (4.1C) - and yes, it was measured by 3 instruments plus one thermometer in a water bottle! The we ventured back out to the inner stations of the 500.* line, despite the continuing low pressures, and have worked our way out. In order to finish in time for the high density grid tomorrow we dropped two 1-M net tows, but we have CTDs and at least a 2-M net/acoustic transect at all the 500.* stations. Right now the barometric pressure is 977, up from our low of 962 so we have hope! and winds are down to 12 kts from gusting to over 45 kts. The current plan for the next few days is: 15 Jan - 0500 - high density foraging grid 1 - the one anchored near station E - with Polly and Dan Grossman (journalist) on board. If the weather holds, Bruiser will go do SeaCat casts along the 20 km edges of the grid (as Doug mentioned in Dec in DC would be help in boxing in the hydrographic characteristics of the grid) We will return Polly and Dan to station in the late evening, and then go do a net tow or two for comparison to the ongoing penguin diet sampling. 16 Jan - Process Station 2 - the site chosen is near Trundle Island. The choice was based on two factors. The larger scale choice was that the Grandidier appears to have a characteristic phytoplankton community composition that differs from that further south. The smaller scale was the best 'close to a penguin rookery' site we could find where we could do large volume water sampling where there could be an influence of runoff from the rookery. Heidi and Brett had the listing of sites with penguin pairs (most surveys dating in the mid to late 1980s), and Captain Robert very quickly pointed out navigational issues with all but Trundle. While the ship does CTDs and steams off to do net tows for experimental work, Heidi and Brett will be able to census both Trundle Island and the nearby northern Pitt Islands. 17 Jan - Stations B&E, acoustic transects A-E and F-J, and then retrieve and redeploy the sediment trap. A possible APV deployment has a place holder here, but the iceberg situation makes that very unlikely. 18 Jan - 0500 - high density foraging grid based on satellite tag information from Bill and Donna - we will plan this grid with current foraging information the day before. Head south for the 400.* line after completing that grid. The rest of the cruise will also have to be rearranged as the HMS Endeavour is making an R&R call at Rothera Jan 25/26. So that will not be a good time for us to be trying for a collaborative activity and social time! One idea we discussed this afternoon is completing everything we need to do on the 200.* line and Avian Island and Marguerite Bay (Process #3) before heading to Rothera. Then we might be able to continue on north through Tickle Passage, and into Crystal Sound for the inside south stations. The lack of ice this year so far makes us think that might work, but we are requesting more ice info from Palmer to check. cheers, Robin